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Energy efficient lighting in China
EnelxvPolio'. Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 77 83. 1997 Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0301-4215/97 $ I, .00 + 0.00
ELSEVIER
PII:S0301-4215(96)00070-4
Energy efficient lighting in China Problems and prospects
Guan Fu Min Marine University of Qingdao, c/o PR1 61 ZhanLiuGan Lu, Room 1213, Qingdao 266071, China
Evan Mills Center./br Building Science, MS/90-3058, Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato13', 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Qin Zhang Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of Cal([brnia, Berkeley; CA 94720, USA
China's choices of energy d e m a n d and supply technologies have a large impact on the world's energy market and the environment. Of its 920 billion kWh electric power production in 1993, it is estimated that 15% was used for lighting consumption (approximately 120 billion kWh). This figure is likely to grow as the country develops and so improving the energy efficiency of lighting in China could have a tremendous impact on China's energy consumption. This paper describes key components of China's energy efficient lighting industry from technology and marketing points of view. We identify a few key problem areas and their potentials for improvement. We identify a national savings potential of 40% by shifting to lamps with performance characteristics typical of current w e s t e r n practice - but without changing the market share of various lamps types - and of 60% by adopting the best commercially available lamps. Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ke)'words: Energy efficiency; Lighting; China
With the world's largest population and the fastest growing economy, meeting the growing demand for energy is one of the most important and difficult tasks for China. Because of energy savings programmes in the industrial sector during the last two decades, China is one of the few developing countries that has limited its energy demand growth to half of its gross national product growth rate. However, energy production and use still impose significant economic and environmental costs on China. Given the ever growing economy, population and standard o f living, the current electricity demand and supply relationship cannot be sustained much longer. This nation of 1.2 billion people has the third largest economy in the world after the USA and Japan. Lighting is responsible for about 15% of total Chinese electricity usage.
The approximately 120 billion kWh is equivalent to the output of about one hundred 250 MW electric power plants. Despite the enormous energy demand, lighting energy use in China on average is less than 100 kWh per capita per year, versus about 2000 kWh per capita per year in the USA. Additionally, recommended light levels promulgated by the Illuminating Engineering Society in China are only one-sixth to one-tenth of those in Japan and western industrialized countries (Table 1). For example, the standard is 75-100 lux in Chinese hospital examination rooms versus 500-1000 lux in Germany. Increasingly, lighting designers are using the higher western lighting levels. The combination of increased light levels and growth in population and building construction will cause lighting demand to grow quickly, probably faster than overall electricity demand. 77
78 Energy efficient lighting in China: G. F. Min et al. Table I Comparison of illumination standards in different countries (lux) UK Germany
Japan
Russia
USA
China
General office Drafting Classroom Hospital examinationroom
300-750 750-1500 200-750 200-500
300 500 300
300 750 300 540
100-200 200-500 75-150 75-100
500 750
500 750 300 500-1000
500
Table 2 Lamp production trends in China (millions) 1988
General serviceincandescent (market share) Halogen (market share) Low voltage (market share) Linear fluorescent (market share) Compactfluorescent (market share) Other (market share) Total
1303 74%
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1437 71%
1747 71%
1993 70%
2264 68%
2217 60% 100 3%
61 2% 212 9% 10 0% 445 18% 2476
89 3% 218 8% 11 0% 518 18% 2828
13I 4% 286 9% 18 1% 648 19% 3340
156 9%
171 8%
302 17% 1761
413 20% 2021
248 7% 38 1% 1083 29% 3586
Sou;we: Chinese Lighting IndustryAssociation.
During the last five years, the average annual increase in lamp production was about 15% versus an 8-9% increase in electricity production.
The need for energy efficient lighting The continuing shortfall between electricity demand and supply, the escalating cost of building new power plants and competing needs for investment capital are just some of the obvious reasons why China is ripe for improved energy efficiency in lighting and other end use areas. Moreover, power shortages are attributable in part to peak demands caused by lighting and air conditioning in the major cities. Although electricity prices vary widely around China, they are typically higher in fast growing cities that have serious problems meeting peak electricity demand. However, even with such indisputable market potential, energy efficient lighting products have had their share of difficulties in the marketplace. Lack of clear direction and comprehensive policy from the central and local governments, lack of financial structure and incentives for energy efficient products and insufficiently advanced technology and materials to manufacture high quality, high performance products are some of the factors limiting the growth of energy efficient technologies. Because of high cost and short equipment lifetimes, typical Chinese consumers often view energy efficient lighting as something that 'saves energy but not money'. When buying cheaper but poorer quality products, some consumers lose all confidence in the technology. The Chinese lighting energy savings potential has not been rigorously estimated. Based on the product characteristics discussed below, one notes a potential of 45% to 70% efficiency improvement simply by comparing the best available lamp efficacies in China with those in the west. Luminaire and ballast technologies lag behind western
standards, offering a similar degree of saving potential. Elevating product quality (as measured by lamp lifetime) to western standards would dramatically improve the cost-effectiveness of a given lighting measure, thus expanding the potential sphere of application. Similarly, as energy prices rise to western levels, the technical-economic potential also increases. On the other hand a trend towards increased lighting levels and population growth counterbalances the savings potential to an unknown degree. Trends in the mix of lamp types being produced in China suggest that by the year 2000 the ratio of fluorescent to incandescent lamps sold will increase from one-ninth to onefourth. Over this same time period, combined compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), T8 and T10 production will increase from 10% of all light sources to 70% and the share of highintensity discharge lamps will increase from 1% to 10%. These 'structural' changes will in themselves lead to energy savings, even without efficiency improvements within a given lamp type. Advanced lighting control systems - currently little known in China - would add to the savings potential.
The lamp industry Electric light sources have been manufactured in China for more than 80 years. China produced 3.6 billion lamps in 1993 and annual growth in production has been 10% to 15% in recent y e a r s - compared to about 1% per year in the USA (Table 2). Only a small fraction of production - or growth in production - is attributable to net exports, which amounted to about 70 million lamps of all types in 1993 (Figure 1). There are more than 600 lamp factories in China today, employing 250 000 workers. Most of this industry is in the eastern part of the country, especially around Shanghai, where nearly 40% of the national production occurs (Figure
Energy efficient lighting in China." G. F. Min et al. 79
80 1 1990 60 -i 1992
E
1993
40
20 o
Z
--20
I
Generalservice incandescent
Linear fluorescent
Compact fluorescent
Halogen
Figure 1 Chineselamp export/importbalance
0
400
800
L
I
I
1600 I
I
3200 km
I
I
I
I
•
•
l v
( J
f-)
of Production (million pa)
•
250-500
•
100-250
•
50-100
L ~
Figure 2 Major lamp production areas in China
2). A wide range of lamp types are produced in China, including incandescent, halogen, high intensity discharge, linear fluorescent (including efficient 26 mm 'T8' lamps) and compact fluorescent lamps. Approximately 10 million energy efficient T8 lamps were made in China in 1993 (1
million with tri-phosphors). The largest manufacturer produces 400 million incandescent lamps annually. As of 1994, attempts had been made to establish about 10 CFL production plants in China with equipment imported from Taiwan, the UK and South Korea. Each of
80
Energy efficient lighting in China: G. E Min et al.
Table 3 A comparison of Chinese and international lamp performance standard indicators Lamp type Wattage General incandescent Halogen Linear fluorescent Compact fluorescent Metal halide High pressure sodium
China International China International China International China International China International China International
these projects have been troubled with technical and marketing problems and, as a result, production capacity exceeded the actual production level for several years. With most idle production lines finally put into service, 60 million CFLs were produced in China in 1994 - exceeding the domestic consumption levels of any western country for that year. Production soared to 300 million by 1996.
The ballast industry The Chinese ballast industry is much smaller than the lamp industry, both in terms of the total production level and the size of a given factory. The industry is very decentralized, with only a few manufacturers producing more than 1 million units per year. The largest, located in Shanghai, is EBT (largely owned by Philips). Most producers make the old inefficient magnetic ballast for linear fluorescent lamps. However, in recent years, electronic ballast production has grown rapidly to a level of about 10 million units per year in conjunction with the growth of CFLs, T8 and T I0 straight fluorescent lamps. There are hundreds of CFLs ballast producers in China. Most operate at a scale of 100-500 000 units per year. In the city of ShenZhen alone there are more than I0 manufacturers of electronic ballasts for CFLs. There is a continual trade-off between higher priced advanced technology and good quality versus the cheaper but lower quality products. Gradually, architecture and engineering companies and public building owners are beginning to specify electronic ballasts. One manufacturer has developed a high performance CFL ballast with a hybrid chip. The electronic ballast export market is very promising, given China's highly competitive labour rates.
The luminaire industry Until recently little attention has been paid to light luminaire design or efficiency in China. Luminaires for outdoor applications (especially highway lighting or high-beam reflector flood systems for industry and commercial settings) are the most advanced. If luminaires are used at all, the main goal is to achieve a certain decorative effect without regard for efficiency. This is particularly true in the residential and commercial sectors. Luminaire production stand-
15-1000 10-1500 50-2000 10-1000 6-125 4-200 4-28 5-55 150-1500 30-2000 35-1000 30-1000
Efficacy (lumens/W)
Life (hours)
7-18 5-25 14-28 15-30 25-40 40-100 4ff455 50-70 70-80 50-125 60-100 50-150
100-1 000 100-2 000 50-1 500 50-2 000 3 000-5 000 I 0 000-20 000 1 000-3 000 5 000-20 000 3 000-8 000 2 000-10 000 4 000-12 000 I 0 000-25 000
ards lag behind those used for lamps. For example, it is very difficult to find CFL compatible luminaires in China. Luminaire manufacturing - another important component of energy efficiency lighting systems - occurs mostly in small factories (about 1500 in total), with total production of 170 million units per year. With improved relations between mainland China and Taiwan, many Taiwanese and Hong Kong luminaire manufacturers are moving their production to mainland China (although much of the product is re-exported). This trend will bring improved technology, manufacturing quality control and marketing expertise to the Chinese marketplace. The highest quality luminaires are typically exported to non-Chinese markets that will pay relatively high prices. Ironically, many new high-rise buildings in China install high quality imported luminaires. The luminaire market is perhaps the most underdeveloped market within the lighting industry.
In pursuit of quality Even given the great market potential for energy efficient lighting, promoting efficient lighting products in China is still a very difficult task. A number of joint ventures between foreign companies and Chinese partners and a number involving the Chinese government have had problems penetrating the market. Cutting corners on quality can have serious market consequences. For example, the national utility in Ireland purchased Chinese made CFLs for a pilot rebate programme - the CFLs had the best power quality characteristics of anything they could find on the international market. Unfortunately, the early failure rate was about 25% and the utility has rejected the CFLs until their quality can be brought up to western standards. Lamp quality - b o t h in terms of efficacy, colour rendition, maintenance of initial light output and service l i f e - is poorer in China than in many other parts of the world (Table 3). Only 20-30% of the lamps produced meet international quality standards. For example, standard linear fluorescent lamp lifetimes in China range from 3000 to 5000 hours, compared with 10 000 to 20 000 for their western made equivalents. Efficiencies are 25--40 lumens/W versus 40-100 lumens/W in the West. Good phosphor sources are present in China, but are not well developed. The 'soft lead glass' used today for CFLs loses approximately 20% of its transparency within the first 3000 hours of operation. Most high quality lamps
Energy efficient lighting in China." G. E Min et al. 81
120
100 C-
==
E=,
80
i
60
BestWestern
40
TypicalWestern
J
CurrentC h i ~
20-
__
I Linear fluorescent
Incandescent
Linear fluorescent(T8)
Compact fluorescent
Highintensity discharge
Figure 3 Average lamp efficacies: China versus Western standards Table 4 Derivation of savings factors applicable to the current Chinese lighting situation China savings factor (Western average)
China savings factor (bestWestern)
Current Chinese lamp efficacy
Typical Western lamp efficacy
Best Western lamp efficacy
Lamp type
(lumens/W)
(lumens/W)
(lumens/W)
(1993 = 1.00)
(1993 ~ 1.00)
Incandescent Linear fluorescent Linear fluorescent (T8) Compact fluorescent High intensity discharge
10 40 50 50 40
15 65 90 60 100
25 95 95 80 120
0.67 0.62 0.56 0.83 0.40
0.40 0.42 0.53 0.63 0.33
use 'hard glass' and/or coating techniques that could cost twice as much for the Chinese makers. At first glance, the problem seems to be a simple technical one. If the Chinese manufacturers use a higher quality glass, perhaps imported and other better raw materials, they could make good lamps and save more energy in China. Indeed, many of those 20-30% lamps that meet international standards use better materials. However, the currently 'high end' products are exported to US and European markets that can absorb the additional costs of production. Only if the manufacturers can export the products and earn higher profits and hard currency can they justify the additional cost of production. If high quality lamps are imported, duties of 42% apply on incandescent lamps and 30% on fluorescent lamps (including CFLs). For typical households, the price of electricity is not high enough to justify the purchase of a 30-40 RMB (approximately US$5) CFL since the price of a CFL is about one-fourth to one-sixth of monthly family income (or about
5% for the relatively affluent urban households). Additionally, the often poor quality of domestic made lamps makes it even harder to justify the economics benefits. Most utility companies are subsidized or run by the government in ways that offer no incentive to promote energy efficiency or to change the electricity price to reflect true costs. This is a direct result of lack of appropriate energy policies. In a cost driven mass market, lack of standards for quality and performance and difficulty justifying costeffectiveness lead to poor quality, poor performance and cheap products flooding into the market that would not only undermine energy saving benefits, but ultimately destroy consumer confidence and eventually the market itself.
The future is bright The potential for energy savings within each lamp technology area is significant. As shown in Figure 3 and Table 4, elevating lamp efficacies typical of China today to those
82 Energy efficient lighting in China: G. F. Min et al. Table 5 Bottom up estimate of lighting energy use and savings potential in China (1993) a
Lamp type Incandescent Linear fluorescent Liner fluorescent (T8) Compact fluorescent High intensitydischarge Total Energy savings (%)
Lamp stock (millions)
Average lamp size (W)
Average usage (hours/day)
Lamp life (hours)
1063 500 16 38 30
40 30 36 13 350
4 5 5 4 8
700 4000 6000 2000 5000
China annual electric use (BkWh) 62 27 I. I 0.7 31 122
China annual electric use at Western average performance (BkWh)
China annual electric use at Western best performance (BkWh)
41 17 0.6 0.6 12 72 41
25 12 0.6 0.5 10 48 61
aLamp stock derived using 1988 to 1993 sales statistics (Table 2), lamp usage and lamp service lives.
typical in western countries would achieve savings of 15~0%, depending on the lamp type. Achieving efficacies representative of the best available in the West would achieve per lamp savings of 45% to about 70%. The data assembled in this paper allow us to develop an estimate of the end use breakdown of lighting energy in China and a projection of the energy savings potential, accounting for the current mix of light sources. Application of savings factors developed in Table 5 show a total 'overnight' savings potential of 40% by shifting to lamp performance typical of current western practice - but without changing the market share of various lamp types - and of about 60% by adopting the best commercially available lamps in the West. We have not estimated further savings from daylighting or lighting control and switching systems. Importantly, this savings potential does not include any structural changes, such as shifts from incandescent to fluorescent lamp types. By including changes from incandescent to compact fluorescent in 30% of all applications (approximately 50% of total incandescent lighting energy use) total savings grow to 70%. Absolute savings in the future depend on other factors not included in Table 5. Some will tend to push lighting energy use up (such as changes in lighting levels, population and building stock growth) and others will push it down (such as structural shift towards a higher proportion of efficient lamp types and improved control technologies). If China is to become a competitive exporter of lighting products and save energy domestically, quality standards will have to be improved. The shift to a market economy is likely to accelerate the process of improving the economic benefits of energy efficient lighting products. Following are some examples of preliminary efforts:
nese-owned factories and foreign joint ventures have been selected for utilization in the programme. As currently conceived, the programme would award special labels for products meeting a minimum efficiency threshold. (3) As a form of reward, some city governments have given CFLs to departments that have achieved energy savings. Today, some cities are considering rebate programmes. More complex systems in which loans would be made to companies wishing to invest in efficient lighting retrofits are also under consideration. Loan repayments would be indexed to energy savings. (4) The SETC sponsored Energy Efficient Technology Investment Corporation is active in making loans and investment in energy efficient technologies and products from cogeneration to variable speed motor drives and energy efficient lighting. (5) The Beijing Energy Efficiency Center, co-founded by the Chinese State Planning Commission, the US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest Laboratory, is leading many projects in the area of integrated resource planning (IRP) and demand side management (DSM). ShenZhen, the first city to lead the way in running its own market oriented utility, has already finished the first phase study of an IRP programme proposal. It also has committed itself to carrying out several energy efficient lighting demonstration projects using CFLs, electronic ballasts and T8 lamps in ShenZhen and other cities. This project includes the development of a prototype light logger, for use in evaluating programme impacts.
(1) To give consumers and exporters an easy way of assessing the quality of lighting products, China's National Center for Supervision and Inspection issues the 'Great Wall Mark' certifying product safety. The organization also spot checks products already in the market. Work is underway to explore adoption of the IEC standards. (2) The State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) plans to launch a 'Green Lights' programme in China, loosely modelled after the successful US EPA's programme. Several quality products produced by Chi-
Joint ventures are also introducing the necessary technical expertise and capital or other financial arrangements with foreign companies to achieve western quality standards (Table 6). About 100 joint ventures for lighting have already been established in China. Most are small to midsized and involve Taiwanese and Hong Kong companies. Lighting giants such as GE Lighting, Philips, Osram and several other Japanese lighting manufacturers have also established joint ventures in China. Many of them have started producing products for China's domestic market.
Enogy efficient lighting in China: G. F Min et al. 83 Table 6 Examples of foreign investment in the Chinese lighting market Product
Foreign company
Chinese company
Location
CFL T8 lamps HID, CFLs Electronic ballasts Incandescent CFL Halogen PAR Luminaires CFL CFL CFL, linear fluorescent Electronic ballast
Unknown (Taiwan) Philips (Netherlands) Philips (Netherlands) EBTa (USA) General Electric (USA) Panasonic (Japan) Litetronic Lighting Corporation (USA) Panasonic (Japan) Juifeng (Taiwan) Quanneng (Hong Kong) Osram PRI (USA)
Unknown Feidong Yarning None Jiabao Group Beijing Picture Tubes Sunlite Stone Nanchung Auslite Foshan AME and Jantai
Guangdong Nanjing Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai Beijing Shenzhen Beijing Jiangki Shanghai Guangdong Jiangsu/Shandong
aOwned by Philips North America.
For example, EBT Shanghai is starting the second phase of its operation in which it will produce and market electronic ballasts for China. Philips' joint ventures in Nanjing and Shanghai are producing CFLs and T8 lamps to supply Chinese market in addition to exporting in other parts of Asia.
and their joint ventures in the Chinese market have an opportunity to contribute to quality and performance improvements by providing technical expertise.
Conclusion
Since the time of writing, much has transpired in the Chinese lighting market. China's production of compact fluorescent lamps has soared from 60 million units per year in 1994 to approximately 300 million units in 1996. China is now responsible for about half the global production of thse important energy-efficient light sources. The government has launched a broad energy-efficient lighting deployment effort loosely modelled after the US Environmental Potection Agency's highly acclaimed Green Lights Program. The programme may turn out to be even farther reaching, combining voluntary approaches with new mandatory efficiency standards. Lastly, torchiere floor lamps, the fastestselling household fixture in many western markets, are now manufactured in very large volumes in China, and most of them are exported. The extreme inefficiency of these 300-500 watt fixtures, combined with their rapid market penetration, has already overwhelmed the lighting energy savings that have been achieved in the residential sector in some countries over the past decade. Adding insult to injury, the fixtures have also been responsible for a number of costly fires. Addressing this situtaion has become one of the most important emerging energy issues in the lighting area.
China is an immense lighting market with nearly one-quarter of the world's population and the world's fastest growing economy. China has a hearty appetite for light and is already one of the world's largest producers and consumers of lighting products. Current growth in the lighting market will create an upward pressure on energy demand as well as associated costs and environmental impacts. Improving the efficiency and quality of its lighting products is one way China can offset its shortfall in electricity supply and fast growth rate of demand. Manufacturers recognize that the 'market pull' for efficient lighting products is still weak in China. Government policies to promote energy efficient lighting are a new feature on the Chinese landscape. Several fundamental problems remain: (1) there is not enough emphasis on educating energy users and decision makers about efficiency options available to them; (2) it is still difficult to obtain capital and justify the costeffectiveness of energy efficiency projects; (3) primitive manufacturing process and poor quality raw materials are just some of the factors that contribute to the poor performance of most Chinese made lighting products; and (4) there are strong incentives to export energy efficient products manufactured in China, with the result that domestic energy savings are not captured. However, actions in the right direction have been taken in the last few years. Governments have been active in promoting energy efficiency and higher performance and quality standards. Utilities around the country have started to work with local governments, manufacturers and end users to encourage more efficient products. Foreign companies
Postscript
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Building Technologies under Contract No DE-AC03-76SF00098. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Report No 36822. An earlier version of this work was presented at the 3rd European Conference on Energy-Efficient Lighting, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 19-21 June 1995.
ELSEVIER
PII:S0301-4215(96)00070-4
Energy efficient lighting in China Problems and prospects
Guan Fu Min Marine University of Qingdao, c/o PR1 61 ZhanLiuGan Lu, Room 1213, Qingdao 266071, China
Evan Mills Center./br Building Science, MS/90-3058, Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato13', 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Qin Zhang Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of Cal([brnia, Berkeley; CA 94720, USA
China's choices of energy d e m a n d and supply technologies have a large impact on the world's energy market and the environment. Of its 920 billion kWh electric power production in 1993, it is estimated that 15% was used for lighting consumption (approximately 120 billion kWh). This figure is likely to grow as the country develops and so improving the energy efficiency of lighting in China could have a tremendous impact on China's energy consumption. This paper describes key components of China's energy efficient lighting industry from technology and marketing points of view. We identify a few key problem areas and their potentials for improvement. We identify a national savings potential of 40% by shifting to lamps with performance characteristics typical of current w e s t e r n practice - but without changing the market share of various lamps types - and of 60% by adopting the best commercially available lamps. Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ke)'words: Energy efficiency; Lighting; China
With the world's largest population and the fastest growing economy, meeting the growing demand for energy is one of the most important and difficult tasks for China. Because of energy savings programmes in the industrial sector during the last two decades, China is one of the few developing countries that has limited its energy demand growth to half of its gross national product growth rate. However, energy production and use still impose significant economic and environmental costs on China. Given the ever growing economy, population and standard o f living, the current electricity demand and supply relationship cannot be sustained much longer. This nation of 1.2 billion people has the third largest economy in the world after the USA and Japan. Lighting is responsible for about 15% of total Chinese electricity usage.
The approximately 120 billion kWh is equivalent to the output of about one hundred 250 MW electric power plants. Despite the enormous energy demand, lighting energy use in China on average is less than 100 kWh per capita per year, versus about 2000 kWh per capita per year in the USA. Additionally, recommended light levels promulgated by the Illuminating Engineering Society in China are only one-sixth to one-tenth of those in Japan and western industrialized countries (Table 1). For example, the standard is 75-100 lux in Chinese hospital examination rooms versus 500-1000 lux in Germany. Increasingly, lighting designers are using the higher western lighting levels. The combination of increased light levels and growth in population and building construction will cause lighting demand to grow quickly, probably faster than overall electricity demand. 77
78 Energy efficient lighting in China: G. F. Min et al. Table I Comparison of illumination standards in different countries (lux) UK Germany
Japan
Russia
USA
China
General office Drafting Classroom Hospital examinationroom
300-750 750-1500 200-750 200-500
300 500 300
300 750 300 540
100-200 200-500 75-150 75-100
500 750
500 750 300 500-1000
500
Table 2 Lamp production trends in China (millions) 1988
General serviceincandescent (market share) Halogen (market share) Low voltage (market share) Linear fluorescent (market share) Compactfluorescent (market share) Other (market share) Total
1303 74%
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1437 71%
1747 71%
1993 70%
2264 68%
2217 60% 100 3%
61 2% 212 9% 10 0% 445 18% 2476
89 3% 218 8% 11 0% 518 18% 2828
13I 4% 286 9% 18 1% 648 19% 3340
156 9%
171 8%
302 17% 1761
413 20% 2021
248 7% 38 1% 1083 29% 3586
Sou;we: Chinese Lighting IndustryAssociation.
During the last five years, the average annual increase in lamp production was about 15% versus an 8-9% increase in electricity production.
The need for energy efficient lighting The continuing shortfall between electricity demand and supply, the escalating cost of building new power plants and competing needs for investment capital are just some of the obvious reasons why China is ripe for improved energy efficiency in lighting and other end use areas. Moreover, power shortages are attributable in part to peak demands caused by lighting and air conditioning in the major cities. Although electricity prices vary widely around China, they are typically higher in fast growing cities that have serious problems meeting peak electricity demand. However, even with such indisputable market potential, energy efficient lighting products have had their share of difficulties in the marketplace. Lack of clear direction and comprehensive policy from the central and local governments, lack of financial structure and incentives for energy efficient products and insufficiently advanced technology and materials to manufacture high quality, high performance products are some of the factors limiting the growth of energy efficient technologies. Because of high cost and short equipment lifetimes, typical Chinese consumers often view energy efficient lighting as something that 'saves energy but not money'. When buying cheaper but poorer quality products, some consumers lose all confidence in the technology. The Chinese lighting energy savings potential has not been rigorously estimated. Based on the product characteristics discussed below, one notes a potential of 45% to 70% efficiency improvement simply by comparing the best available lamp efficacies in China with those in the west. Luminaire and ballast technologies lag behind western
standards, offering a similar degree of saving potential. Elevating product quality (as measured by lamp lifetime) to western standards would dramatically improve the cost-effectiveness of a given lighting measure, thus expanding the potential sphere of application. Similarly, as energy prices rise to western levels, the technical-economic potential also increases. On the other hand a trend towards increased lighting levels and population growth counterbalances the savings potential to an unknown degree. Trends in the mix of lamp types being produced in China suggest that by the year 2000 the ratio of fluorescent to incandescent lamps sold will increase from one-ninth to onefourth. Over this same time period, combined compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), T8 and T10 production will increase from 10% of all light sources to 70% and the share of highintensity discharge lamps will increase from 1% to 10%. These 'structural' changes will in themselves lead to energy savings, even without efficiency improvements within a given lamp type. Advanced lighting control systems - currently little known in China - would add to the savings potential.
The lamp industry Electric light sources have been manufactured in China for more than 80 years. China produced 3.6 billion lamps in 1993 and annual growth in production has been 10% to 15% in recent y e a r s - compared to about 1% per year in the USA (Table 2). Only a small fraction of production - or growth in production - is attributable to net exports, which amounted to about 70 million lamps of all types in 1993 (Figure 1). There are more than 600 lamp factories in China today, employing 250 000 workers. Most of this industry is in the eastern part of the country, especially around Shanghai, where nearly 40% of the national production occurs (Figure
Energy efficient lighting in China." G. F. Min et al. 79
80 1 1990 60 -i 1992
E
1993
40
20 o
Z
--20
I
Generalservice incandescent
Linear fluorescent
Compact fluorescent
Halogen
Figure 1 Chineselamp export/importbalance
0
400
800
L
I
I
1600 I
I
3200 km
I
I
I
I
•
•
l v
( J
f-)
of Production (million pa)
•
250-500
•
100-250
•
50-100
L ~
Figure 2 Major lamp production areas in China
2). A wide range of lamp types are produced in China, including incandescent, halogen, high intensity discharge, linear fluorescent (including efficient 26 mm 'T8' lamps) and compact fluorescent lamps. Approximately 10 million energy efficient T8 lamps were made in China in 1993 (1
million with tri-phosphors). The largest manufacturer produces 400 million incandescent lamps annually. As of 1994, attempts had been made to establish about 10 CFL production plants in China with equipment imported from Taiwan, the UK and South Korea. Each of
80
Energy efficient lighting in China: G. E Min et al.
Table 3 A comparison of Chinese and international lamp performance standard indicators Lamp type Wattage General incandescent Halogen Linear fluorescent Compact fluorescent Metal halide High pressure sodium
China International China International China International China International China International China International
these projects have been troubled with technical and marketing problems and, as a result, production capacity exceeded the actual production level for several years. With most idle production lines finally put into service, 60 million CFLs were produced in China in 1994 - exceeding the domestic consumption levels of any western country for that year. Production soared to 300 million by 1996.
The ballast industry The Chinese ballast industry is much smaller than the lamp industry, both in terms of the total production level and the size of a given factory. The industry is very decentralized, with only a few manufacturers producing more than 1 million units per year. The largest, located in Shanghai, is EBT (largely owned by Philips). Most producers make the old inefficient magnetic ballast for linear fluorescent lamps. However, in recent years, electronic ballast production has grown rapidly to a level of about 10 million units per year in conjunction with the growth of CFLs, T8 and T I0 straight fluorescent lamps. There are hundreds of CFLs ballast producers in China. Most operate at a scale of 100-500 000 units per year. In the city of ShenZhen alone there are more than I0 manufacturers of electronic ballasts for CFLs. There is a continual trade-off between higher priced advanced technology and good quality versus the cheaper but lower quality products. Gradually, architecture and engineering companies and public building owners are beginning to specify electronic ballasts. One manufacturer has developed a high performance CFL ballast with a hybrid chip. The electronic ballast export market is very promising, given China's highly competitive labour rates.
The luminaire industry Until recently little attention has been paid to light luminaire design or efficiency in China. Luminaires for outdoor applications (especially highway lighting or high-beam reflector flood systems for industry and commercial settings) are the most advanced. If luminaires are used at all, the main goal is to achieve a certain decorative effect without regard for efficiency. This is particularly true in the residential and commercial sectors. Luminaire production stand-
15-1000 10-1500 50-2000 10-1000 6-125 4-200 4-28 5-55 150-1500 30-2000 35-1000 30-1000
Efficacy (lumens/W)
Life (hours)
7-18 5-25 14-28 15-30 25-40 40-100 4ff455 50-70 70-80 50-125 60-100 50-150
100-1 000 100-2 000 50-1 500 50-2 000 3 000-5 000 I 0 000-20 000 1 000-3 000 5 000-20 000 3 000-8 000 2 000-10 000 4 000-12 000 I 0 000-25 000
ards lag behind those used for lamps. For example, it is very difficult to find CFL compatible luminaires in China. Luminaire manufacturing - another important component of energy efficiency lighting systems - occurs mostly in small factories (about 1500 in total), with total production of 170 million units per year. With improved relations between mainland China and Taiwan, many Taiwanese and Hong Kong luminaire manufacturers are moving their production to mainland China (although much of the product is re-exported). This trend will bring improved technology, manufacturing quality control and marketing expertise to the Chinese marketplace. The highest quality luminaires are typically exported to non-Chinese markets that will pay relatively high prices. Ironically, many new high-rise buildings in China install high quality imported luminaires. The luminaire market is perhaps the most underdeveloped market within the lighting industry.
In pursuit of quality Even given the great market potential for energy efficient lighting, promoting efficient lighting products in China is still a very difficult task. A number of joint ventures between foreign companies and Chinese partners and a number involving the Chinese government have had problems penetrating the market. Cutting corners on quality can have serious market consequences. For example, the national utility in Ireland purchased Chinese made CFLs for a pilot rebate programme - the CFLs had the best power quality characteristics of anything they could find on the international market. Unfortunately, the early failure rate was about 25% and the utility has rejected the CFLs until their quality can be brought up to western standards. Lamp quality - b o t h in terms of efficacy, colour rendition, maintenance of initial light output and service l i f e - is poorer in China than in many other parts of the world (Table 3). Only 20-30% of the lamps produced meet international quality standards. For example, standard linear fluorescent lamp lifetimes in China range from 3000 to 5000 hours, compared with 10 000 to 20 000 for their western made equivalents. Efficiencies are 25--40 lumens/W versus 40-100 lumens/W in the West. Good phosphor sources are present in China, but are not well developed. The 'soft lead glass' used today for CFLs loses approximately 20% of its transparency within the first 3000 hours of operation. Most high quality lamps
Energy efficient lighting in China." G. E Min et al. 81
120
100 C-
==
E=,
80
i
60
BestWestern
40
TypicalWestern
J
CurrentC h i ~
20-
__
I Linear fluorescent
Incandescent
Linear fluorescent(T8)
Compact fluorescent
Highintensity discharge
Figure 3 Average lamp efficacies: China versus Western standards Table 4 Derivation of savings factors applicable to the current Chinese lighting situation China savings factor (Western average)
China savings factor (bestWestern)
Current Chinese lamp efficacy
Typical Western lamp efficacy
Best Western lamp efficacy
Lamp type
(lumens/W)
(lumens/W)
(lumens/W)
(1993 = 1.00)
(1993 ~ 1.00)
Incandescent Linear fluorescent Linear fluorescent (T8) Compact fluorescent High intensity discharge
10 40 50 50 40
15 65 90 60 100
25 95 95 80 120
0.67 0.62 0.56 0.83 0.40
0.40 0.42 0.53 0.63 0.33
use 'hard glass' and/or coating techniques that could cost twice as much for the Chinese makers. At first glance, the problem seems to be a simple technical one. If the Chinese manufacturers use a higher quality glass, perhaps imported and other better raw materials, they could make good lamps and save more energy in China. Indeed, many of those 20-30% lamps that meet international standards use better materials. However, the currently 'high end' products are exported to US and European markets that can absorb the additional costs of production. Only if the manufacturers can export the products and earn higher profits and hard currency can they justify the additional cost of production. If high quality lamps are imported, duties of 42% apply on incandescent lamps and 30% on fluorescent lamps (including CFLs). For typical households, the price of electricity is not high enough to justify the purchase of a 30-40 RMB (approximately US$5) CFL since the price of a CFL is about one-fourth to one-sixth of monthly family income (or about
5% for the relatively affluent urban households). Additionally, the often poor quality of domestic made lamps makes it even harder to justify the economics benefits. Most utility companies are subsidized or run by the government in ways that offer no incentive to promote energy efficiency or to change the electricity price to reflect true costs. This is a direct result of lack of appropriate energy policies. In a cost driven mass market, lack of standards for quality and performance and difficulty justifying costeffectiveness lead to poor quality, poor performance and cheap products flooding into the market that would not only undermine energy saving benefits, but ultimately destroy consumer confidence and eventually the market itself.
The future is bright The potential for energy savings within each lamp technology area is significant. As shown in Figure 3 and Table 4, elevating lamp efficacies typical of China today to those
82 Energy efficient lighting in China: G. F. Min et al. Table 5 Bottom up estimate of lighting energy use and savings potential in China (1993) a
Lamp type Incandescent Linear fluorescent Liner fluorescent (T8) Compact fluorescent High intensitydischarge Total Energy savings (%)
Lamp stock (millions)
Average lamp size (W)
Average usage (hours/day)
Lamp life (hours)
1063 500 16 38 30
40 30 36 13 350
4 5 5 4 8
700 4000 6000 2000 5000
China annual electric use (BkWh) 62 27 I. I 0.7 31 122
China annual electric use at Western average performance (BkWh)
China annual electric use at Western best performance (BkWh)
41 17 0.6 0.6 12 72 41
25 12 0.6 0.5 10 48 61
aLamp stock derived using 1988 to 1993 sales statistics (Table 2), lamp usage and lamp service lives.
typical in western countries would achieve savings of 15~0%, depending on the lamp type. Achieving efficacies representative of the best available in the West would achieve per lamp savings of 45% to about 70%. The data assembled in this paper allow us to develop an estimate of the end use breakdown of lighting energy in China and a projection of the energy savings potential, accounting for the current mix of light sources. Application of savings factors developed in Table 5 show a total 'overnight' savings potential of 40% by shifting to lamp performance typical of current western practice - but without changing the market share of various lamp types - and of about 60% by adopting the best commercially available lamps in the West. We have not estimated further savings from daylighting or lighting control and switching systems. Importantly, this savings potential does not include any structural changes, such as shifts from incandescent to fluorescent lamp types. By including changes from incandescent to compact fluorescent in 30% of all applications (approximately 50% of total incandescent lighting energy use) total savings grow to 70%. Absolute savings in the future depend on other factors not included in Table 5. Some will tend to push lighting energy use up (such as changes in lighting levels, population and building stock growth) and others will push it down (such as structural shift towards a higher proportion of efficient lamp types and improved control technologies). If China is to become a competitive exporter of lighting products and save energy domestically, quality standards will have to be improved. The shift to a market economy is likely to accelerate the process of improving the economic benefits of energy efficient lighting products. Following are some examples of preliminary efforts:
nese-owned factories and foreign joint ventures have been selected for utilization in the programme. As currently conceived, the programme would award special labels for products meeting a minimum efficiency threshold. (3) As a form of reward, some city governments have given CFLs to departments that have achieved energy savings. Today, some cities are considering rebate programmes. More complex systems in which loans would be made to companies wishing to invest in efficient lighting retrofits are also under consideration. Loan repayments would be indexed to energy savings. (4) The SETC sponsored Energy Efficient Technology Investment Corporation is active in making loans and investment in energy efficient technologies and products from cogeneration to variable speed motor drives and energy efficient lighting. (5) The Beijing Energy Efficiency Center, co-founded by the Chinese State Planning Commission, the US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest Laboratory, is leading many projects in the area of integrated resource planning (IRP) and demand side management (DSM). ShenZhen, the first city to lead the way in running its own market oriented utility, has already finished the first phase study of an IRP programme proposal. It also has committed itself to carrying out several energy efficient lighting demonstration projects using CFLs, electronic ballasts and T8 lamps in ShenZhen and other cities. This project includes the development of a prototype light logger, for use in evaluating programme impacts.
(1) To give consumers and exporters an easy way of assessing the quality of lighting products, China's National Center for Supervision and Inspection issues the 'Great Wall Mark' certifying product safety. The organization also spot checks products already in the market. Work is underway to explore adoption of the IEC standards. (2) The State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) plans to launch a 'Green Lights' programme in China, loosely modelled after the successful US EPA's programme. Several quality products produced by Chi-
Joint ventures are also introducing the necessary technical expertise and capital or other financial arrangements with foreign companies to achieve western quality standards (Table 6). About 100 joint ventures for lighting have already been established in China. Most are small to midsized and involve Taiwanese and Hong Kong companies. Lighting giants such as GE Lighting, Philips, Osram and several other Japanese lighting manufacturers have also established joint ventures in China. Many of them have started producing products for China's domestic market.
Enogy efficient lighting in China: G. F Min et al. 83 Table 6 Examples of foreign investment in the Chinese lighting market Product
Foreign company
Chinese company
Location
CFL T8 lamps HID, CFLs Electronic ballasts Incandescent CFL Halogen PAR Luminaires CFL CFL CFL, linear fluorescent Electronic ballast
Unknown (Taiwan) Philips (Netherlands) Philips (Netherlands) EBTa (USA) General Electric (USA) Panasonic (Japan) Litetronic Lighting Corporation (USA) Panasonic (Japan) Juifeng (Taiwan) Quanneng (Hong Kong) Osram PRI (USA)
Unknown Feidong Yarning None Jiabao Group Beijing Picture Tubes Sunlite Stone Nanchung Auslite Foshan AME and Jantai
Guangdong Nanjing Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai Beijing Shenzhen Beijing Jiangki Shanghai Guangdong Jiangsu/Shandong
aOwned by Philips North America.
For example, EBT Shanghai is starting the second phase of its operation in which it will produce and market electronic ballasts for China. Philips' joint ventures in Nanjing and Shanghai are producing CFLs and T8 lamps to supply Chinese market in addition to exporting in other parts of Asia.
and their joint ventures in the Chinese market have an opportunity to contribute to quality and performance improvements by providing technical expertise.
Conclusion
Since the time of writing, much has transpired in the Chinese lighting market. China's production of compact fluorescent lamps has soared from 60 million units per year in 1994 to approximately 300 million units in 1996. China is now responsible for about half the global production of thse important energy-efficient light sources. The government has launched a broad energy-efficient lighting deployment effort loosely modelled after the US Environmental Potection Agency's highly acclaimed Green Lights Program. The programme may turn out to be even farther reaching, combining voluntary approaches with new mandatory efficiency standards. Lastly, torchiere floor lamps, the fastestselling household fixture in many western markets, are now manufactured in very large volumes in China, and most of them are exported. The extreme inefficiency of these 300-500 watt fixtures, combined with their rapid market penetration, has already overwhelmed the lighting energy savings that have been achieved in the residential sector in some countries over the past decade. Adding insult to injury, the fixtures have also been responsible for a number of costly fires. Addressing this situtaion has become one of the most important emerging energy issues in the lighting area.
China is an immense lighting market with nearly one-quarter of the world's population and the world's fastest growing economy. China has a hearty appetite for light and is already one of the world's largest producers and consumers of lighting products. Current growth in the lighting market will create an upward pressure on energy demand as well as associated costs and environmental impacts. Improving the efficiency and quality of its lighting products is one way China can offset its shortfall in electricity supply and fast growth rate of demand. Manufacturers recognize that the 'market pull' for efficient lighting products is still weak in China. Government policies to promote energy efficient lighting are a new feature on the Chinese landscape. Several fundamental problems remain: (1) there is not enough emphasis on educating energy users and decision makers about efficiency options available to them; (2) it is still difficult to obtain capital and justify the costeffectiveness of energy efficiency projects; (3) primitive manufacturing process and poor quality raw materials are just some of the factors that contribute to the poor performance of most Chinese made lighting products; and (4) there are strong incentives to export energy efficient products manufactured in China, with the result that domestic energy savings are not captured. However, actions in the right direction have been taken in the last few years. Governments have been active in promoting energy efficiency and higher performance and quality standards. Utilities around the country have started to work with local governments, manufacturers and end users to encourage more efficient products. Foreign companies
Postscript
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Building Technologies under Contract No DE-AC03-76SF00098. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Report No 36822. An earlier version of this work was presented at the 3rd European Conference on Energy-Efficient Lighting, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 19-21 June 1995.